Video - 2013 Jeep & Mopar Concept Vehicles from Moab

Mar. 26, 2013 By Josh Burns, Photos by Josh Burns and Courtesy of Jeep/Mopar

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The Flattop is a chop-top two-door JK where the roof line is lowered and windshield are lowered 2 inches. Although the stock suspension is retained, with a low center of gravity and some one-off fender flares specifically designed for the vehicle, the Jeep design team was able to fit 37-inch Mickey Thompson rubber on the Flattop

Concept cars are great, but how great is something that’s rolled onto a car show floor because it doesn’t actually run? The brains at Jeep and Mopar apparently don’t just believe in dreaming up cool concepts – they believe in making them work. That’s the idea behind the unique vehicles Jeep and Mopar bring each year to the Easter Jeep Safari. Not only do the media get to drool over the vehicles and report about it to our readers, we actually get to drive them!

The Sand Trooper II is an updated version of the Sand Trooper introduced at the 2012 SEMA Show. Mopar portal axles provide 20 inches of clearance in the front and more than 18 inches of rear clearance. Powering this monster Wrangler is a 5.7-liter Mopar HEMI crate engine.

Teased last week before the start of the 47th Easter Jeep Safari from Moab, Utah, Jeep and Mopar announced six unique concept vehicles that were built to look cool and get dirty. Although it’s a group effort to build the concept Jeeps, in a way the group’s efforts are split up between two teams – there are three Jeep concept vehicles worked on by the Jeep design team (Trailhawk II, Stitch and Flattop), while the other three are built by the Mopar team (Sand Trooper, Recon and Slim).

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2012 Jeep Concept Vehicles

All of the vehicles feature a blend of prototype parts, pieces straight from the Mopar catalog, aftermarket parts and conceptual designs that may never see production. Each has its own unique angle in concept and design, and they stir the friendly debate for Jeep lovers to argue which is the coolest one.

Although we will have more detailed follow-up stories on the concept vehicles, for now here’s a closer look at what the teams and Jeep and Mopar conjured up this year. Be sure to check back wiht Off-Road.com for more action from this year’s 2013 Easter Jeep Safari.

The Stitch is a two-door JK Wrangler after it’s been on a serious diet – more like some crazy juicing cleanse. Sibling to the Pork Chop concept from a few years ago, which Jeep engineers tell us weighed about 3400 pounds, the Stitch loses enough weight that it’s closer to 3000 pounds.